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学院 (xué yuàn) — college; institute; school

Definition

学院 usually means 'college' or 'institute' within a larger university, or a specialized school. Smaller than 大学 ('full university'), more specific than 学校 ('school' in general).

noun
collegeinstituteschool
Measure word · 所

Examples

  • 学院。
    Wǒ men xué yuàn yǒu wǔ bǎi gè xué shēng.
    Our college has 500 students.
  • 学院。
    Tā zài zhè suǒ xué yuàn jiào yīng yǔ.
    He teaches English at this college.
  • 学院。
    xué yuàn Páng biān yǒu yí gè hěn dà de gōng yuán.
    There is a very big park next to the college.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

学xuéstudy
院yuàninstitute

学 (study) + 院 (institute) forms an institute of learning.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
完
完wán院yuàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Open 院 →
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